# Ranco ETC Help Needed



## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

So I get my Ranco for the cooler in the mail today, and I get it all wired up. I plug it in and the display pops up. I set the point for 65 with a 3 diff and C1 for cooling. Well then I plug in my fans and cooler into it, and nothing happens. The display is reading 72 with the little "S1" in the top left corner lit up. Shouldn't my cooler and fans be kicking on right now? Anyone have any idea what's going wrong? Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


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## CraigJS (Dec 23, 2009)

Unless we had one, I don't know that anyone would have the foggest idea on how they work..


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## DeeSkank (May 26, 2010)

I have a Ranco ETC, bought it prewired and it works fine... have it set at 68, diff of 4 and on C1. Works fine...maybe you wired something wrong?


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

That's what I was thinking. But if I did, wouldn't it be reading an error or something? And not let me set the temp? I'm confused, lol. Guess I'll have to check the wiring again.


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

If S1 is lit solid, and not blinking, it is indicating that you have reached the programmed setpoint and the control relay changed states. These units don't monitor the outputs, just switch the relay at different setpoints. You won't get an error message in the case of a miswire (which I also suspect). These have two contacts you can wire to, so it is possible that in it's current configuration your fan and cooler won't come on until you reach 65. 

Let me know what you have and where you wired it and I'll help you out.


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

I don't know anything about the Ranco ETC, but a common trouble shooting tip would be to unplug the fridge and put a meter in the plug-in and see if you are getting 120VAC from the ETC. If you are not then either the relay in the ETC is not working or you wired the plug wrong. If you are getting 120VAC, then there is something wrong with your fridge.


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

I don't think I'm getting power to the cooler. I plugged the cooler into the wall and it worked no problem.


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

Ok. Just looked at a picture on line. The one I looked at has both NO and NC methods to wire it. which one did you use? Try switching. If I had to guess on which method I would go with NO. As you would want the relay normally open and close on non-normal condition, which would be temperature out of range.


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Could you give me a link to the method you found? I found a couple and went with one myself, but it isn't looking like it worked out. I'm using a grounded 3-prong extension cord if that matters with which way to go about wiring.


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

I found the picture here, ETC Supply
The last picture shows the relay wiring. You see the labels NC NO and C, they stand for Normally Closed, Normally Open, and Common. So the white wire would connect to "C" and the black to the "NO", as for the green/bare ground wire, I do not see anyplace to connect it in that picture. Look around for a ground lug to wire it to, if there isn't one I would just connect the ground wires from the plug you are wiring in (for the fridge to plug into) to the ground for the 120VAC source that is wired to the ETC that gives the ETC its power. That way your fridge will be grounded back to your house panel ground.


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

I just looked at the instructions that site has online and it looks like it works different than I had described in my earlier post. They are using the relay to cut/apply power to just the line (hot) side and combining the Commons. Also the common on the relay needs to be connected to the Hot on the source. Here is the picture:


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Freak is correct, the temp controller does not supply voltage to your load, only opens and closes the relay. This is why your cooler worked when plugged into the outlet, but not when you had it on the ETC. I have a two stage model at home on a wine fridge. Let me know if you continue to have problems.....


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Ok, so here are some pics.

Ranco pictures by fadewon - Photobucket

I used photobucket for this so y'all could see the full-res big versions.

Now for some notes. The display shows 66 in the pics, but that's because I took them right when I got home from work when my house was still cold. And then we go through some settings. 65, 4 diff, C1 for cooling. And as for the wiring, the black tape on the wires are to keep track of the same wire. I'm not sure if the "black" wire is the correct "black" wire or not, but I don't think it matters, right? And as you can see, there is power going to the unit, but not getting through the relay I guess. Now hopefully this is where you guys can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Thanks again for all the help!


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Unfortunately it is going to be very difficult to determine Line and Neutral coming from your plug because of the generic all white wire the manufacturer used. It would be a cinch to set up if you had the standard Black, White and Green wires used for a typical 120v application. Do you have an old extention cord I could talk you into sacraficing for this?


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Tarpon140 said:


> Unfortunately it is going to be very difficult to determine Line and Neutral coming from your plug because of the generic all white wire the manufacturer used. It would be a cinch to set up if you had the standard Black, White and Green wires used for a typical 120v application. Do you have an old extention cord I could talk you into sacraficing for this?


Not that I know of at the moment. But one of the lines on the one I'm using has the numbering/lettering stamped into it. Is that usually stamped on a certain line or is it not standard?


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

The standard for 120v wiring is color. Without a meter it is going to be difficult to determine what is what. If you get a standard colored cord, this would be the incoming power wiring from the wall:

black* - line in (120 terminal on your Ranco)

white- neutral (com terminal next to 120 on your Ranco)

green- ground (tie with green wire of outgoing plug)

* you also need to run a black jumper wire from 120 terminal to the "C" of the relay (to provide your output power)


Then to wire the outgoing plug :

black - 120v out (N.O. terminal of relay)

white - neutral out (com terminal next to 120 of your Ranco)

green - ground (tie with green wire of incoming power )


Your programming looks good........


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Ok, so if it was wired correctly, what would the face look like. When would the S1 be lit and when would it be flashing?


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

The display is not going to indicate if you have a problem with the output wiring. There are error messages but they are associated with probe malfunctions, improper programming, etc. 

S1 lit solid indicates that the probe has reached your programmed setpoint and the relay has switched positions. (your fans and other equipment should be on at this point)

S1 blinking indicates that you are in program mode and can adjust the setpoint.




If you want to eliminate programming as a problem, land the two wires you have connected to the relay on the same terminal. So we are on the same page, put them both on the C terminal below. This will simulate a closed relay and if everything was wired properly, your output plug should be energized.


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Just tried running the same wires through the C terminal and got nothing. Then tried running one too many wires through it and melted part of the plugin, lol. Looks like I get to buy a new cord... But yeah, from the sound of it, I got a unit with a bad relay? Should that have an error code? I'm totally stumped now. I'm thinking I'm gunna have to buy a pre-wired. Fortunately, this one was used off Ebay and didn't cost me much. Maybe I can get the little bit of money I spent back.


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Adam, by landing the two wires together you bypassed the relay/programming and tested your wiring.

For now it is safe to assume that the relay is good, the programming is good, but you still have a wiring issue (as evidenced by nothing working when you took the relay and program out of the equation). Hopefully you didn't pop any of the solid state components in the unit.......

My advice would be to get an extention cord and follow the color coded wiring scheme, then test.............and stop experimenting with extra wires!!!


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Lol. Yeah. I'm probably gunna head by Home Depot tomorrow and grab a new cord and see what happens. Hopefully everything is good and I was just missing something. But who knows. We'll see. Thanks for the help so far, hopefully I won't be needing any more.


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

It is hard to tell from the picture, but is the plug in that is wired a Polarized plug? If it is, then you can trace the wide plug back and that will be your common and the other will be your hot. Did you perform a continuity test on the relay? Put your meter accross the NO and C terminals when the ETC is supposed to be powering the fridge and you should get continuity. Alternatively you could also put the meter across NO on the relay and COM on the source, you should get 110 - 120 VAC if the ETC is in the mode to run the fridge.

If you still are having problems, I am only an hour drive form you (West Richland) I could come up and take a look at it and we could burn a couple of cigars while we are at it :smoke2:


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

> Did you perform a continuity test on the relay? Put your meter accross the NO and C terminals when the ETC is supposed to be powering the fridge and you should get continuity. Alternatively you could also put the meter across NO on the relay and COM on the source, you should get 110 - 120 VAC if the ETC is in the mode to run the fridge.


Shouldn't have to test the relay at this point, it was already eliminated by putting both wires on the C terminal earlier. By doing this he should have had a hot recepticle all the time (the 120v line in from the wall was directly connected to the outgoing recepticle via a short at the C terminal). He still didn't have proper power, so it is definately a wiring issue. It could be a neutral and line swap like you mentioned, but it is very hard to tell with the all white wire. Would be a cinch with colors. Keep us posted Adam, I want to see this thing running!


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

So I went out and bought a new power strip. This one had the black, white and green wiring like normal. Wired it up like shown here:
Ranco ETC 111000-000 - 120V Wiring Guide
And still no power running to the strip. I set the unit to cool at 35 degrees with a 15 deg diff, so it should be working, but it's not. So I'm assuming I have a busted unit?


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## Mutombo (Aug 3, 2010)

I've been procrastinating in wiring up my Ranco, and this thread is making me nervous. I was going to use the guide you just linked above. I'll try to get to it tonight or tomorrow and let you know how it goes.


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Do a quick test like earlier, put both relay wires on the C terminal. Unplug first tho!!


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

Adam said:


> So I went out and bought a new power strip. This one had the black, white and green wiring like normal. Wired it up like shown here:
> Ranco ETC 111000-000 - 120V Wiring Guide
> And still no power running to the strip. I set the unit to cool at 35 degrees with a 15 deg diff, so it should be working, but it's not. So I'm assuming I have a busted unit?


Do you have a volt meter? You should get 120VAC across the C (relay) and the Com (source), all the time. Then you should get 120VAC across the NO (relay) and the Com (Source) when in cooling mode, if you don't then try NC (relay) and Com (Source). Maybe we all have the thinking process backwards.

Also you could check for 120VAC in the plug itself. If the plug has 120VAC, then your polarity is backwards. Most cooling fans will not run if the polarity is switched, and basically all the TEC on the wine fridge is, is two cooling fans one on each side of the dis-similar metals.


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

By the way, that link you found is perfect.


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

Tarpon140 said:


> Shouldn't have to test the relay at this point, it was already eliminated by putting both wires on the C terminal earlier. By doing this he should have had a hot recepticle all the time (the 120v line in from the wall was directly connected to the outgoing recepticle via a short at the C terminal). He still didn't have proper power, so it is definately a wiring issue. It could be a neutral and line swap like you mentioned, but it is very hard to tell with the all white wire. Would be a cinch with colors. Keep us posted Adam, I want to see this thing running!


Yep, sorry didn't see that part of his earlier post. If the polarity is switched it still could be a bad relay though. He really needs to start putting a volt meter at different points and see what is really going on.


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

> He really needs to start putting a volt meter at different points and see what is really going on.


I agree. Another test would be to plug a lamp into the output recepticle.......


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Mutombo said:


> I've been procrastinating in wiring up my Ranco, and this thread is making me nervous. I was going to use the guide you just linked above. I'll try to get to it tonight or tomorrow and let you know how it goes.


I wouldn't worry about yours. I got mine used off ebay, so it could just be mine...


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Don't give up yet dude, we could still get this thing going!

Did you put both relay wires together on C yet?


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Just got out the volt meter and did a test on it. I'm only getting 8 volts instead of the 120 on the receptacle end. Looks like I have a bad contact or something somewhere in the guts.


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Next step; go around the contacts by putting the relay wires together on C. Just imagine this as tying the wires together. That is all we are doing, shorting the hot lead to the output recepticle. Then measure your voltage. 

BTW, does your output recepticle have a circuit breaker button? This is also a possibility if it is open. Lots of possibilities, just gotta narrow them down.......


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Yep. Voltage was fine with both wires in the C slot. Read at 122.


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

OK, that is good. We didn't get that far before. Now measure from the Common-white wire terminal above to the N.o and then the N.c terminal on the relay. One of those 2 should be hot.

Then look and see if S1 is on. 

Then make S1 go off, your 120v should move to the other contact.


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

:couch2: This is getting interesting, something on here I actually understand and can help on, instead of learning.

The 8 VAC sounds a little high for residual voltage on a solid state contact, I would expect 2 - 4 VAC. With the info so far and the little brown spot on the circuit board in the picture you posted I am a little worried you may have a bad unit.

Hope not though!


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Good eye, didn't see a brown mark. Usually not good! An easy way to kill one of these is to exceed the current rating of the relay. They are used in alot of HVAC applications, hopefully Adam's was lightly used. The test he is doing now will tell all. If S1 changes states and the relay doesn't, then the contact is welded inside and likely toast...


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

It's commute time, so I'm outta here for a little while. If your relay is working and switching, your final step would be to move your black output wire to the outer NC contact (it is connected to C when S1 is lit). I just opened one up that I have hooked to a cooling fan at an industrial site.

Good luck man!


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Oops, forgot I have more components in line at that site, you want N.O. contacts


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

I don't even want to mess with this thing anymore. Lol. I sent a message to the guy on Ebay about possibly getting a refund. If I get that I'm gunna order a new one and be done with it. Luckily it's getting to winter so the house stays cool, which means the comtroller isn't really necessary for the time being.


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## Tarpon140 (Aug 19, 2009)

Bummer, hopefully you can get a refund. Would have liked to see what that relay was doing after the new wire job, but it is what it is. 

If you get stuck with it and don't feel like sh*tcanning it, I will try to repair it for you if you want to ship it over to me. Your call. At any rate, good luck!


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## TheFreakShow (Jul 13, 2010)

Good luck with the refund. It was fun helping trouble shoot!


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## Adam (Jun 17, 2010)

Tarpon140 said:


> Bummer, hopefully you can get a refund. Would have liked to see what that relay was doing after the new wire job, but it is what it is.
> 
> If you get stuck with it and don't feel like sh*tcanning it, I will try to repair it for you if you want to ship it over to me. Your call. At any rate, good luck!


If I can't get a refund I'll definately drop you a line. Thanks!


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